Women's hockey drops two to Saints in first ECAC weekend

Despite being outplayed and overmatched, the women's hockey team gave St. Lawrence all it could handle for five periods this weekend. It was the sixth period that looked ugly. Following a tight 2-1 loss Friday night, Princeton fought hard again Saturday before St. Lawrence erupted for three goals in the final period to cruise past the Tigers 4-1.

After pushing St. Lawrence (4-2-0 overall, 2-0-0 ECAC) to the brink Friday, the Tigers (1-3-0 overall, 0-2-0 ECAC) got down early Saturday when Saints freshman forward Christian Powers turned a Princeton mistake into a breakaway goal at 8:56 of the first period to give St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers, with only 15 skaters to cover the constant shift changes in a game — compared to St. Lawrence's 22 — did not cave. A penalty-packed opening period peaked when Princeton freshman defender Katherine Maglione and senior defender Aviva Grumet-Morris went to the box within a 24-second span in the final seven minutes, followed two minutes later by two violating Saints. With a 5-on-3 power play, the Tigers tied the score when sophomore forward Nikola Holmes knocked in a Grumet-Morris rebound.

"Those opportunities are gold," said Princeton head women's hockey coach Jeff Kampersal '92. "Our 5-on-3 is really good. It's a situation where it's still the beginning of the season and they're still pretty new at it. [Friday], they were roaming around. [Saturday], they let the puck do the work. As long as they do that, they'll score the 5-on-3 every time."

Though they were outshot 13-4, the Tigers escaped the second period unscathed, with neither team scoring as the game remained even at one.

The floodgates opened in the third, however, starting with a goal from Saints freshman forward Rebecca Russell at 2:31. After a body-checking penalty on Maglione, St. Lawrence sophomore forward Ricki-Lee Doyle added a power play goal at 9:33 to make it 3-1. With fatigue setting in for Princeton, Saints senior defender Colleen Coakley punched in the fourth St. Lawrence goal at 11:33.

"I'm sure the back-to-back games made them tired by the third period [Saturday night]," said Kampersal. "I give them a lot of respect for working their tails off like that. We just made some mental mistakes."

St. Lawrence outplayed the Tigers on Friday as well; however, Princeton was in it the whole way.

The Saints got two goals from junior forward Shannon Smith, at 7:05 of the first and 6:24 of the second. That was all they needed.

Princeton sophomore forward Lisa Rasmussen pulled the Tigers within 2-1 with an unassisted goal at 11:12 of the second, one of just 17 shots-on-goal the Tigers managed.

At 15:10 of the third, St. Lawrence was whistled for too many skaters on the ice, followed by a tripping penalty on Russell at 15:43, giving the Tigers a 5-on-3 opportunity to tie the game. With this great opportunity and the game on the line, the Tigers could not capitalize. St. Lawrence killed the penalties despite a flurry of shots from Princeton, and the Saints held on for the one-goal win.

"St. Lawrence is a good team," Kampersal said. "They're well-coached. We played with a lot of heart, but sometimes our brand of hockey just fades in and out."

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Both nights, the Tigers were .in position to win heading into the third period but could not overcome the Saints' fresh legs.

"[Friday], in the third period, we rose to the occasion," said Kampersal. "We took it to them and outshot them 11-3 but just couldn't buy a goal. [Saturday], when the third period came, we didn't rise to the occasion and St. Lawrence did."

Princeton was outshot 63-41 on the weekend.

Junior Sarah Ahlquist was in goal for Princeton Friday night but gave way to sophomore Megan Van Beusekom Saturday. Sophomore Rachel Barrie manned the net both nights for St. Lawrence.

Princeton plays next this Friday at Providence before heading to Yale on Sunday.